Santhaan Krishnan presents the 2019 Caroline Weatherill Memorial Lecture on the topic of the Rule of Law in the Commonwealth.
The Isle of Man Law Society was pleased to welcome Santhaan Krishnan as its guest speaker on the 10 September 2019. In 1988 Santhaan enrolled as an Advocate and practiced law in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad before relocating to Delhi in 1992 to practice law before the Supreme Court of India. In 2015 Santhaan was elected as Vice-President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and was then its President between 2017 and 2019. Santhaan has always been a keen advocate of the Rule of Law and was a member of “Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights” espousing the cause of the Rule of Law.
In his opening comments Tim Swift, President of the Isle of Man Law Society, paid tribute to Caroline Weatherill who tragically died at an early age in 2006, leaving husband Lawrence, a practising advocate, and four children, she had been a credit to the legal profession and is fondly remembered by all who knew her. The President said that the Annual Lecture was established in 2006 in honour of Caroline, with many esteemed speakers attending during that time.
The President explained that he wished to do something different for this year’s lecture and was particularly conscious of the need for the Isle of Mann to increase its connections with countries outside Europe. When he met with Santhaan at a meeting of the European Hub of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association in March he was delighted that Santhaan agreed to speak.
The audience then heard Santhaan discuss the many jurisdictions of the Commonwealth he has visited. Without the aid of notes Santhaan explained in detail the difficulties and issues throughout the Commonwealth surrounding the Rule of Law and how each jurisdiction meets such challenges. The lecture was very well received by a packed Manx Museum lecture theatre and was followed by a questions from the audience ending with a rapturous round of applause.
Santhaan met His Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor, the Isle of Man Judiciary, advocates and members of the public for canapés and drinks before presenting his lecture. The evening concluded with a vote of thanks from the Isle of Man Law Society President Tim Swift who presented Santhaan with a set of cufflinks of a design specially commissioned by the Law Society.